Conveyer chain



ct. 18, l932. s. SHAFER, JR 1,883,005

coNv'E'YER CHAIN Filed NOV 6, 1951 Patented Oct. 18, 1932 11N-1T ED; STATES SAMUEL SHAFER, JR-;, OFY MILWAUKEE,

WISCONSIN;` AssIeNoa To ena-IIN B'i COMPANY, or MILWAUxEnwIseoNsIN, A CORPORATION oifwrscoNsINi coNVEYEIa CHAIN Applieationuled November 6,1931. Serial No. 578,489.l

Thisinvention relates to conveyer chains and more particularly to the type which: carv movement transverse to the line of travel thereof. Such-conveyers are commonlyemployed indouble lines or strands for handling lumber and the like `although they areV not limited solelyto such use.

The invention has for one of'its objects to provide. a device of this character which iWill e simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and more eiicient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed. p

In my prior U. S. Patent No.v 1,745,192 granted January 28, 1930 entitled Transverse conveyers, I have described and' claimed al conveyerlchainof this type in which thelinks arey formed of malleable iron castingsand in whichalternate links carry a'single longitudinally 'disposed roller, a portion of which projects. overl the next adjacent,` Vnon-roller carrying link. While thepresent invention mayzlikewise bey applied to ya cast chain, it lends itself readily to employment with a dropl forged chain which, as is Well known by thoseskilled inthe art, possesses considerably greater strength than cast chain Witlrless Weight, and isless subject' to breakage. The present invention constitutes aV furtherimprovenient over that of myj saidy .priorpatent in that asingle supportfor the rollers is in.- tegrally formed With certain of thelinks in the drop Vforgingprocess7 andaroller is rotatably mounted at either'end of the said support, one of said rollers or aportionofboth rollersiprojecting over the -next adjacent nonrollerzcarrying link or links so that Whenthe chain` is made-up of Valternaterollerfcarrying andnon-roller carrying links a substantially continuous load Vreceiving roller surface is presented. upon Whichv the load`A may be charged through transverse movement.v

With the above and otherobjects in view which Will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists fin the novel details .of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter described and'particularly' pointed out in they appendedlclaims.

Referring to the accompanying drawingv forming a part of this specification in. which'. like reference characters designate like parts` in all the views 2- n Figurel ris a side elevational view-partly insection of a portion rof aconveyer chainfconstructed. in accordance Withthe present invention; v

Figure 2`is a top planview offthepartsJ shown in Figure 17 certain ofthe rollers being' omitted and other portionsJ being shown in` section.; j

Figure 3 is a detailperspectiveview'of'one of the roller-carryinglinks as shovvn in Fig@- ures 1 and 2; andy A A Figure 4 is a sectional elevationalvv View# through a4 rollercarryingy link of slightly` modified. construction. A

VReferring. more particularly, ti'rfthe` said. drawing 5 indicates-*generally a` sprocket4 chain of a Well knowndrop. frgedtype which is madeup, of alternate single bari links 6 and spaced double bar links- 7. The 'isaid links are provided with'horizontallongitudi-l nal slots8 and 9-'respectively andare pivt ally connected together bythe cha-in plus orY pintles 10 provided 'With'tlieheads11i, which are normally retained in` place by. lugs "12`and' 13 formed upon' the double bar links in the. process of drop forging., n V p j VCertain or all of the single'bar-links'-.Gare provided With a single roller. support 15 .which may be formed integrally. Withth'e saidlinks in the process orf'drop. forgingland inthe form shown-in Figures 1, 2 and the, said supports eXtendf substanti'ally perpendicu l'arly outward from the said links at one end thereof. The supports 15 are provided yWithv a longitudinal bore 16 Which receivesaspin-l dleA 17 extending through the supporta and. projecting from either end thereof as clearly'. shown in Figures 1 and 2 The'said spindle` may be retained iniplaceiwithin the supporty in any suitable manner, as for Vexample by means of the transverse locking. pin 18.

Upon the projecting ends of the spindle 17 there are rotatably mounted the load-receiving rollers 19and 520A, therotat-ive aires of which of course are substantially longitudinal With respect to the links 6. The rollers may be retained in place by any suitable means, as for example by heading the ends of the spindle 17 as indicated at 21.

As Will be clear from Figure 1 the rollers 19 and 20 are located in a plane above that of the chain links and the rollers 19 extend over the links 7 While the rollers 20 overlie the links 6. Vhile obviously it is not necessary to provide each link 6 With a support 15 and rollers 19 and 20 it is preferred to do so, and When such construction is employed there is presented a substantially continuous loadsupporting roller surface which greatly facilitates the loading and unloading of material upon or from the conveyer strands through transverse sliding movements of the material, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. 'Ilie rollers 19 and 2O as shown in Figures 1 and 2 may be hollowed out to provide internal chambers 23 for the reception of lubricant Which may be introduced through a filling opening 24, see Fig. 2, which opening may be normally closed by a threaded plug 25.

Instead of forming the support 15 at the extreme end of the links 6 said support may be positioned intermediate the ends at substantially the mid-portion as indicated in Figure 4,'in which event a portion of each of the rollers 19 and 2O Will overlie the carrying links 6 While other portions constituting the extreme outer ends of the rollers Will of course overlie portions of the adjacent non-roller carrying links 7 as will be readily understood. In the form shovvn in Figure 4; the spindle 17 is illustrated as provided with a tapering mid-portion 17 receivable in the bore 16 of the support 15 for positioning and seating the said spindle in the support.

' It is'obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as Well as the precise arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

` 1What I claim is:

1. A conveyer chain, certain of the links of which are provided With a single projecting support; and a load receiving roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof With their axes substantially longitudinal of the link.

i 2. A conveyer chain, certain of the links of Which are provided With a single projecting support; a spindle carried by and projecting beyond the respective ends of said support,

he axis of said spindle being substantially longitudinal of the link; and a roller carried by each projecting portion of said spindle.

f 8. A conveyer chain, certain of the links of which are provided with a single prosupport, the axis of said spindle being sub-` stantially longitudinal of the link; and a;

roller carried by each projecting portion ofI said spindle, and at least a portion of at least one of said rollers overlapping the next adjacent link.

t. A conveyer chain comprising alternatel single-bar and double-bar links, certain of said single-bar links having a single support extending therefrom substantially perpendicular to the line of travel; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof, at least a portion of at least one of said rollers overlapping an adjacent doublebar link.

5. A conveyer chain comprising pintle connected alternate single-bar and double-bar links, each of said single bar links having a single support extending vertically therefrom; and a load-receiving roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof, the axes of said rollers being substantially longitudinal of the link.

6. A conveyer chain comprising alternate single-bar and double-bar links, each of said single-bar links having a single support extending from one end thereof; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof, one of said rollers being positioned adjacent the single-bar link and the other roller being adjacent the next double bar link.

7. A drop-forged conveyer chain, certain of the links of which have a single support extending from one end thereof; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof, one of said rollers being positioned adjacent the link which carries it, and the other roller being adjacent the next nonroller-carrying link.

8. A drop-forged conveyer chain, the alternate links of Which have a single support extending outwardly from one end thereof; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof ina plane above that of the link, one of said rollers being in transverse alinement with the carrying link, and the other roller being in transverse alinement With the next adjacent non-roller carrying link. f

9. A drop-forged conveyer chain, the alternate links of which have a single support extending vertically from one end thereof; and a. vroller rotatably carried by said support at each end thereof, the axes of said rollers being substantially longitudinal of the link, and one of said rollers overlying the carrying links, While the other of said rollers overlies the next adjacent non-roller carrying link.

10. A drop-forged conveyer chain, certain of the links of Which have a single support extending outwardly from a point between the ends thereof; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each of its ends, a portion of each of said rollers being adjacent the carrying link, and another portion of each roller being adjacent a contiguous nonroller carrying link. y v

11. A drop forged conveyer chain, the al ternate links of which have a single support extending substantially perpendicularly from the mid-portion thereof; and a roller rotatably carried by said support at each of its ends, a portion of each of said rollers overlying tlie carrying link, and another portion of each roller overlying a contiguous nonroller carrying link.

12. A conveyer chain, certain of the links of which have a single support extending outwardly therefrom; and a roller rotatably carried by said support and at least a portion thereof overlying said link, and its axis being substantially longitudinal of said link.

13. A conveyer chain, certain of the links of which have a single support extending out- Wardly therefrom; and a roller rotatably carried by said support and at least a portion thereof overlying an adjacent non-roller carrying link, the axis of said roller being substantially longitudinal of said link.

14. A link for conveyer chains having a single support for a longitudinally disposed roller projecting therefrom.

15. A link for conveyer chains having a single support for a longitudinally disposed roller projecting from one end thereof.

16. A link for conveyer chains having a single support for a longitudinally disposed roller projecting from a point intermediate the ends thereof.

17. A drop-forged link for conveyer chains having a single rigid support projecting perpendicularly therefrom and provided with a bore to receive a longitudinal rollercarrying spindle.

In testimony whereof, I aiix my signature.

SAMUEL SHAFER, JR. 

